An Elon man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing two motorcyclists in a crash last year, and was ordered to pay thousands of dollars to the family, complete 500 hours of community service and take courses in safe driving.

On Oct. 11, Michael Joseph Ahlgren’s pickup truck struck a motorcycle from behind killing a husband and wife. Michael Turner, 41, and Shanon Turner, 40, were traveling north on N.C. 87 in Elon and had slowed to make a right turn onto Carroll Drive.

They were thrown from the bike. Ahlgren was traveling about 55 mph and said he didn’t see them until too late.

It’s unclear why Ahlgren didn’t see the motorcycle. Evidence at the scene showed its turn signal and lights were on. He may have been on his phone at the time of the crash. Records showed that a call was placed within 40 seconds of the crash, Alamance County Assistant District Attorney Paul Soderberg said, but investigators weren’t able to determine whether that call was made before or after the wreck.

Ahlgren was charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle. State statutes define misdemeanor death by motor vehicle as an unintentional killing while violating any state law or ordinance during the operation of a motor vehicle.

Ahlgren’s charges were based on the underlying traffic violation of failure to reduce speed, Soderberg said.

Members of the Turner family — including the couple’s teenage sons — attended Tuesday’s hearing. Shanon Turner’s sister, Tracy Wilson, addressed the court before Ahlgren was sentenced, describing the sons’ loss as they plan their futures without their mother and father.

“There aren’t words to say what this family has gone through and will go through because of this horrific tragedy,” Wilson said. “It’s left a void in all our lives.”

District Court Judge Lunsford Long was brought in from Orange County to hear the case because Turner’s brother, David Turner, is a Burlington police officer.

Clay Hemric, Ahlgren’s defense attorney, first requested that Long issue a prayer for judgment continued.

“I cannot as a human being do that,” Long told Hemric, saying it would “denigrate” what happened to the Turner family.

Long consolidated the two charges into one 75-day suspended sentence and placed Ahlgren on two years’ probation. While under supervision, Ahlgren must complete 500 hours of community service, pay $29,000 in restitution for funeral expenses, a $1,000 fine and court costs. He was ordered also to surrender his license.

Ahlgren must complete an online alert driving course and write a paper on it, read the book, “The Silent Epidemic: Texting and Distracted Driving,” write a paper on that, and interview that book’s author and report back to the judge about the conversation, Long ordered.

“It boils down to simple inattentive (driving), which is not seen to be the problem that it is in our society,” Long said.